In this succinct teaching presented in 2006 by His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa in Bodhgaya, India, students are guided through a shortened version of the preliminaries for mahamudra practice, which His Holiness composed with the aim of benefiting practitioners from developed countries who often lead busy lives. The complete practice, in Brief Recitations, is written in English, Tibetan, and Tibetan transliteration, and complete instructions for the Four Special Preliminaries are provided, with the exception of guru yoga. His Holiness guides students through the details of each practice, including the visualizations of Refuge, Vajrasattva purification, and Mandala offerings -- often punctuated with his good humor. A summary of the practice sequences and a list of precepts of the refuge vow are also included in two appendices.

Contents: Ngondro for Our Current Day

vi.

Translator's Introduction

The Short Mahamudra Ngondro Practice

2.

The Short Vajradhara Lineage Prayer
By Pengar Jampal Sang

10.

The Four Ordinary Foundations
Extracted from the Daily Recitation of the Mahamudra Preliminaries
by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje

16.

Brief Recitations for the Four Preliminary Practices
By the Seventeenth Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje